Bad Luck
by blindmansun
Summary: Sorcerer Fitz Kreiner just wants to lay low and play music. His life turns upside down when a fae known as the Doctor demands he help him find his missing friend. Things soon go downhill when a warlock arrives, bent on enslaving the Doctor and taking his power. Fitz thinks he's pretty unqualified for this, but he's the only one who can help...and they need it. Eventual Eight/Fitz.
1. I Want Your Help

It was the eyes I noticed first. They were bright blue and were fixed, rather unnervingly, in my direction. Even more worryingly was the fact that I'd just made eye contact. But the most distressing thing about the entire situation was that I wasn't seeing anything, which meant I was staring down something without a soul.

"That was very good," the thing-that-looked-like-a-man said, gesturing towards my guitar case. It was almost my height, skinny with a mass of spiked hair, wearing a blue suit with a long coat thrown on over it.

"Thank you," I said nervously, trying to edge past it. The thing had parked itself right in front of the bar entrance, blocking off my escape route. "I try."

"Does your magic help?" The thing leaned closer. I in turned leaned backward. The whole scene probably looked pretty comical to someone who wasn't in immediate danger of being eaten by some denizen of the night.

"I like to think it's natural talent and hard work," I offered in reply, mentally calculating how hard I'd have to throw my case at the thing to at least distract it.

"Hmm." It narrowed its eyes and stared me in the face for a long second, almost as if searching for something. Then it straightened up abruptly, turning on its heel and exiting the bar. I stared after it, breathing for what felt in the first time in hours. I made my way to the door and cautiously poked my head outside, eyeing the dark street and feeling about for any supernatural presences.

Nothing.

"Thank God," I sighed in relief, slipping outside and starting the walk to my apartment. The thing hadn't had a soul, which meant it was either one of two things: a vampire, or something from the NeverNever. Or…all right, I'll admit. I'm not exactly and expert. But I was pretty damn sure that thing with the feral eyes was a faerie.

Ok, here's the thing. My name's Fitz Kreiner and I'm a wizard. No, sorry, that's not true. Technically, I'm a sorcerer. I've got barely enough power to be considered a wizard but there's no way I'm even going within fifty feet of the White Council. All I want is to lay low and play music, not get swept up in magical politics.

Anyway. I can blow stuff up and am apparently of interest to supernatural creatures. I thought about the thing in the bar's eyes as I reached my apartment building and shuddered. I've never seen anything so wild in my life. Although I do have to admit I was glad a soulgaze hadn't occurred. I hate those.

The building was quiet as I entered, which was to be expected at one in the morning. I eschewed the elevator –it wasn't like it worked half the time anyway- and took the stairs to my apartment. Third door on the sixth floor, which made for a ridiculous amount of stair climbing. I was more than a bit out of breath by the time I reached my door, which was slightly embarrassing. I'm not exactly in the best shape; a scrawny physique and a smoking habit does not a healthy person make.

My apartment was pitch black when I finally got the door to open and made it inside. I fumbled for the light switch, praying that the electricity would work. See, one side effect of magic is that it tends to wreck havoc on modern technology. I'm luckier than most because it usually takes longer for stuff to die on me. Some practitioners have to live by candlelight. The lights flickered on.

I dropped the case on the floor by my bed and went over to the window. It was too stuffy in the apartment, as usual. The frame was jammed again and I had to wrestle it open. It flew up suddenly, making me jump in surprise. I just about leapt across the room when I looked outside.

"Holy hell!" I stumbled back, staring at the figure perched on my windowsill. It was the thing from the bar, I just knew it. The eyes were the same, even though the form was different. It was smaller this time, with long curly hair and some sort of fancy dress outfit. "Did you follow me?"

"Yes." It locked eyes with me again. "May I come in?"

"No!" No way in hell was I giving this thing permission to enter my house. "What do you want?" A sudden thought occurred to me and I backed up even further, to the workbench on the far wall. "You're a faerie, aren't you? I'm armed, you know," I said as I snatched up a box of nails and pointed one in its direction. The thing hissed, features blurring suddenly. I caught a glimpse of…something. Whatever it was, it looked wrong and I swallowed, scared stiff.

"Put that away." Its voice was surprisingly calm, almost melodious. "I swear I mean you no harm."

"Say it again."

"I swear."

"Again."

"Thrice sworn and forever done!" It sounded impatient now. I relaxed slightly, lowering the nail. A promise made three times by a member of the fae was the closet they could get to telling the truth.

"Fine." I made a vague hand gesture. "Come in."

"Thank you." The faery slipped gracefully inside, then turned to close the window. "You needn't be so petulant, you know. I could've come in regardless of permission granted. I was merely being polite."

"Yeah, well…" I put the box back down on the bench but slipped the nail into my pocket just in case. "You scared me. I've never met one of the fae before. You are one, right?" I eyed it suspiciously. "I thought they were taller."

"I can take whatever form I want," the faery said neutrally and I hoped I hadn't offended it. That would be bad news. "This is the one I prefer at the time being."

"But earlier, at the bar-"

"I was disguised." The faery tipped its head to the side, studying me. I didn't think it had blinked once this entire time, which was just downright creepy.

"Why, though? What do you want with me?"

"I am searching," the faery said simply. "A mortal girl I was fond of was taken by magical means and I wish to find the culprit."

Damn. I hope it didn't think I'd done it. "Hold on," I stammered, backing further away. "It wasn't me, so…"

"I know." The faery moved closer, still not taking its eyes from mine.

"Then why-"

"I want your help. I am limited in this realm and I need a servant to assist me."

Ok. No way was that happening. "No." I said firmly. The faery narrowed its eyes. "I'm not getting involved in anything. That's not my thing. And I'm nobody's servant."

"You will help me."

"No I w-"

"You will help me," the faery said again. It wasn't stated like a threat. More like an observation. "You are a good man." It turned suddenly, heading back towards the window. "I will return tomorrow."

"Wha-" I finally managed, but it was too late. The damned thing had disappeared again. I rushed over to the now-open window. "Leave me alone!" I shouted into the night. A man on the street below twisted up to look at me and I closed the window sheepishly. The lights flickered out suddenly and I groaned. I felt the way towards my bed, cursing liberally, collapsing onto it as soon as I felt the rough covers.

"The universe hates me," I muttered into the pillow. All I wanted was to be left in peace and now I was being stalked by some faery with a noble streak. I had to figure out what to do and fast, before I got dragged any further into this bound-to-be-dangerous situation.

Naturally, I promptly fell asleep.


	2. Cold Snap

"Oh, thank God," I said as I slumped down at the table. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come."

"What else am I supposed to do when my friend calls me in full-out panic mode?" Anji Kapoor, best futures trader in the city, raised an eyebrow at me. Anji's great. Smart as a whip, professional, and absolutely amazing in a crisis, which is why I wanted to talk to her. We'd met a few years back when I still had the bad habit of accidentally soulgazing every human in sight and proceeded to get very drunk together. We hang out. It's cool. "Besides," she added, "it sounded like you were about to start crying."

Anji is also very mean sometimes.

"I was not," I muttered. Anji smiled and shook her head.

"Why here, though? Isn't there a wizard bar or something you're supposed to go to?"

"I don't like it there. Besides," I rapped on the table with my knuckles, "metal." I'd chosen this bar specifically. I'd remembered it when I was thinking of safe meeting spots this morning; The St. Louis was working very hard on it's futuristic theme and every single thing in the place was made of gleaming metal. I'd played a gig here before. Terrible acoustics.

Anji frowned in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ok, look." I leaned across the table. "I'm being followed by a faery and it's kinda freaking me out."

"Oh. They don't like iron." Have I mentioned how smart Anji is? She read up on every supernatural thing she could find after we met. She probably knows more than me now, which is just plain embarrassing. "What did you do?"

"I don't know! I was just trying to go home after my gig last night and it jumped me. Then it climbed through my window!"

"Maybe it's just a really big fan of yours," Anji said teasingly. I glared at her and she held her hands up. "All right. Do you know what it wants?"

"My help, apparently," I said morosely. "Something about a missing friend. I don't know. I'm no detective."

"Isn't that dangerous, though? Working with the fae?"

"Yeah. Which is why I'm not. I just don't want it to keep following me, you know? I don't want to have to carry iron on me for the rest of my life."

"Not really. That sucks, though." Anji pulled a sympathetic face. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nah. You don't want to get mixed up in this, trust me."

"I'm not helpless, you know," Anji said hotly, eyes flashing.

"I know. You're probably better in a fight than I am."

"Says the man who can use magic," she said lightly and I couldn't help but smile.

"It's not like I'm very good at it. Anyway. How're you doing?"

"Ok. Chloe can't manage to stay out of trouble, though. Do you know how many times I've had to go down to her school this month?" She raised her hands in exasperation. "Too many!"

"She doesn't strike me as the troublemaking type," I said in surprise. My memory of Chloe was that of a pretty shy girl. A bit strange, but sweet.

"She's not," Anji sighed. "She's a good kid. It's just that weird stuff happens around her and she gets blamed for it." She eyed me. "You don't think…?

"I don't know." I shrugged. "She's adopted, right? Could be."

"Great. What would I do with two wizards in my life?"

"I'm not-"

"Sorcerer, then. Sorry." Anji leaned forward suddenly. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"One of my coworker's kid is missing. I was wondering if you could help."

"Anji, I'm not a detective!" I exclaimed. "I'm not good at that kind of stuff."

"Why not?" She argued back. "You helped me find out what happened to Dave."

"Yeah, but…"

"She's a seventeen-year-old girl. Her family's worried sick. You know how to do tracking spells."

"Barely."

"You're a lot smarter than you think, Fitz." Anji's voice softened. "Just at least take a look into it? For me?"

I could feel my will dissolving under Anji's pleading stare. Damn it. I'm no good at saying no to my friends. "All right," I sighed. "I'll try. No promises."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever. You'll have to give me the information."

"Already got it." Anji reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. Of course. Typical Anji: prepared for anything. I sighed again and took it.

"I'll look it over later."

"Great. Can we get out of here now?" Anji gestured disdainfully around the bar. "This isn't really my kind of place. Too…space-y."

"Might as well," I said glumly. I had to go home sometime, even if there was the high possibility of a being from faerie waiting for me there. I pushed the chair back and stood up, waiting as Anji shrugged into her coat. "It's not that cold out, you know." I directed my words downwards because Anji, despite her giant personality, is a whole foot shorter than me.

"It's not now," she shot back as we walked to the exit. "But there's supposed to be a cold snap tonight. They say it'll probably start snowing."

"Fab." Just one more thing to worry about. The heating system in my apartment absolutely hates my magic, and since I don't exactly have a fireplace, I'm forced to resort to blankets. Lots and lots of blankets.

"See?" Anji pointed out when we stepped out into the night. The temperature had dropped by at least ten degrees and I shivered, thinking longingly of the leather coat I'd foolishly left back home. At least it wasn't at the freezing point yet.

"I wish I didn't." I rubbed my arms, trying to retain some warmth.

"Here." Anji pulled a scarf out of her purse and handed it to me. I told you. Prepared. "You want a ride?"

"That'd be nice, thanks." I wrapped the scarf around my neck, quietly grateful for Anji's reserved, practical fashion sense.

"My car's over there." She pointed out the tiny vehicle, parked by itself under a streetlamp. I'd never fit properly in that thing, but if it meant I didn't have to walk home in the cold, I wasn't going to complain. Anji was just about to unlock the doors when a figure suddenly stepped out into the narrow beam of light.

It was the faery. My heart stopped for a second as I willed myself not to panic. It wouldn't make a scene out here, right? It seemed fairly benevolent but you never knew…I didn't want Anji to get hurt.

"Jesus!" I croaked out. Anji was just staring at it, wide-eyed and more than a bit intrigued. "Are you still following me?

The faery wrinkled its nose, looking almost cat-like. "Your greetings leave much to be desired, Son of Fortune." It inclined its head towards Anji. "Fair maiden." Then the piercing blue eyes were back on me. "I said I would return, did I not? I wish your help."

"Hold up," Anji broke in. "We're not agreeing to anything unless we know all the facts."

"Since when is it 'we'?" I protested.

"Since now." Anji turned to glare at me. "You said you weren't using that stage name anymore!"

"Well-"

"What is a stage name?" The faery's voice was confused, but it was watching us with an interested expression.

"It's not important." I felt like things were slipping away from me. "I don't want to help you. I'm not getting mixed up in any fae business."

The faery narrowed its eyes. "Do you not care about your own kind? A mortal girl from this area has vanished."

"I do, but-"

"Wait a second," Anji interrupted again. "This girl, what was her name?"

"Samantha." The name sounded melodious the way the faery said it.

"Was she about this tall," Anji stretched her hand up to indicate a height a few inches above her head, "with short blonde hair?"

"Yes."

"Fitz, that's the girl I was talking about!" Anji turned to me. "Sam! You have to help him."

I gulped, trying to fight the pressure of the stares from two very powerful beings. The truth was, I actually kind of wanted to help. There was a kid missing, and the way the faery said it, magic was involved. I was one of the few major players in the area, and was damned glad the faery hadn't decided I was the one who'd done it. I'd probably be dead by now if that was the case.

"Why ask me, though? I'm pretty useless." The faery settled its gaze on me and I felt myself shiver. There was just something about those eyes…

"Because," it said simply.

I waffled mentally for a bit more before giving in. "Oh my God," I muttered. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Come by tomorrow and we'll talk. I'm not making any promises, though."

The faery inclined its head. "So be it." Then it turned on its heel and straight-up vanished. Anji looked at me.

"So are you going to work with him?"

"I don't know. Maybe." A sudden cold gust of wind cut through me and I shivered again. "Can you open the car now?"

"Oh. Yeah." She unlocked the doors and I squeezed myself inside. "Well, if you do…" Anji started the ignition as I buckled myself in. "Thanks."

"Mmm." I stared out the window as she drove down the street, thinking.

I was pretty sure I was about to make a huge mistake.


	3. Discussion

"Look, when I said come by, I meant through the door."

"I prefer this way."

"'Course you do," I sighed, dropping my bag on the workbench and eyeing it. The faery was perched on my windowsill, where it'd been when I came home and almost had a heart attack. Finding supernatural creatures in your living quarters isn't the best way to lead a stress-free life. "How do you even get up here? This is the sixth floor." The faery tilted its head and blinked at me and I decided I didn't want to know. "Nevermind."

The faery leaned forward suddenly, sniffing. "You smell of herbs."

"Yeah, that'd be the job." I sat down warily on the edge of my bed, still a respectable ways away from the faery and close enough to the door to make a break for it if I needed to. I live in a studio apartment, so everything's laid out in one space. Convenient for emergency escapes.

"You work with plants?" There was almost an interested note in the faery's voice. Weird.

"I sell them." Not exactly the coolest of jobs, I know, but it pays the bills. It also gave me easy access to potion ingredients whenever I decided to give them a go…although considering the latest disaster, I didn't think that would be happening again anytime soon.

"An admirable profession." The faery nodded approvingly. "Few mortals these days work with the land as they used to. It is all rather distressing." It sounded genuine.

"Oh yeah?" I was curious despite myself. "Why is that?"

"The world of glass and steel is not my own." There was a sad look in the faery's eyes, which were still entirely too feral to be comfortable. "It is harder to visit safely. It was easier a thousand years ago." A thousand years? Okay, this thing was old.

"Why even bother then? Why not just stay in Faerie?"

It sniffed. "I like mortals. They are amusing."

"What, so we're just entertainment to you?" The words came out harsher than I'd planned and I gulped, hoping I hadn't angered it. The faery turned cold eyes on me.

"In part." They way it answered made me think there was more to it than that but I wasn't going to press the matter.

"Um. Ok. Let's move on." I waved my hand, trying to think. "Um. Is there something I can call you? Not your true Name," I added hastily, because most things would kill you flat-out before giving you the chance to learn their name. Names have power. You can control beings with them.

Or so I've read.

The faery stared at me, face unreadable. Then it slipped off the windowsill and moved in my direction. I tensed, ready to make a bolt for it. I guess what I said hadn't offended it after all, because it just sat down on the bed, folding its legs under it. It was still entirely too close for comfort though, and I was severely tempted to just skedaddle.

"I have been called many things," it said evenly. "Doctor, Fool, Friend, Nyarlathotep, Professor, Physician, Smith. Zagreus," it added, almost as an afterthought.

"Uh." I blinked. "Is there one of those you like the best?"

The faery tilted its head to the side, thinking. "Doctor, I suppose. It is what I have been named most, after all."

"Why's that?" Somehow I couldn't quite imagine it in a lab coat and stethoscope.

"I heal," it said simply. I got the nasty feeling it was one of those types that broke bones to make them stronger.

"Noted. So, um…do you have any preferred pronouns?" Faeries were, for the most part, I think, agender, but you never knew.

"I am used to he and him," the faery – the Doctor – shrugged. "I do not mind them."

"Ok. Good to know. So. Let's…get down to business then. Before I agree to anything, I want to know one thing." I held up a finger for emphasis and the Doctor's eyes slid over to it, like a cat watching prey. "What's in it for me?" It sounded horrible, I know, but I'm broke and not nearly enough of a hero to blindly put myself in danger.

"I can reward you," the Doctor replied.

"With what? No offense, but I've read up on this kind of stuff. Fairy gold and all that."

"I would not trick you."

"Again, no offense but-"

"I promise I will reward you with something you will treasure," he said earnestly. I blinked. This felt wrong. Faeries weren't supposed to give out promises like that so easily.

"Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously.

"I swear it once, twice, thrice, be done." The Doctor held up fingers as he did so, mimicking me. I let out a long breath.

"All right." I got up and walked over to the bench, feeling the Doctor's eyes on my back. It was more than a little unnerving. "I read up on the stuff Anji gave me last night," I called back as I rummaged through my bag, looking for the envelope. "Ah-ha, got it," I muttered as I pulled it out from beneath a book. It was slightly crumpled, with one edge folded over. "Oops."

I went back over to the bed and opened the envelope, laying things out on the covers. The Doctor watched curiously. "Ok. So this girl, Sam, disappeared exactly eight days ago, is that right?"

"That is right," the Doctor dipped his head in affirmation.

"Ok. The police haven't found anything. What do you know?"

"Very little," he said morosely, staring at a picture of Sam. She was laughing in it. A happy kid. "We were…" he hesitated, searching for a word. "Companions, I suppose. She did me a favor once and I repaid it by granting her wish of adventure. I took Samantha to the NeverNever."

"Woah, isn't that dangerous?"

The Doctor shot me a withering look. "Not while I was there. We returned at precisely the same time we left. She vanished the next day. There were traces of magic around her house."

"And you couldn't track it?"

"No." He shook his head angrily. "It attacked me." The Doctor studied me, pinning me with his gaze. "I know it was not yours, though. Your aura is purer." I blinked, unsure how to take that.

"Uh. Ok," I said for the millionth time that night, running my hands though my hair. "Ok. I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but I'll help. One question, though."

The Doctor tipped his head to the side again. "Yes?"

"Why me? There are tons of other practitioners around here. I'll bet most of them are more capable than me. Hell, I'm not even that strong. Why come to me?"

The Doctor actually smiled at that. It was a pretty terrifying smile, to be honest, full of bright white teeth that looked just a little too sharp. "Because, Son of Fortune, you have a good heart." He leaned forward to place an ice-cold hand on my chest and I just about jumped out of my skin. "I knew you would help if I asked." The Doctor withdrew his hand and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I…see. You do know that's not actually my name, right?"

"I know," the Doctor said, grinning wickedly, "Fitz." The way he said my name made me shiver. It sounded entirely more…I don't know, _more, _than it should. "I just like the sound of the title. It suits you, I think."

"Just so we're on the same page."

"Mmm. What are you going to do?"

"Uh. I guess I'll go by the house tomorrow, see if I can find anything." I highly doubted it, but hey. You never knew.

"Good." The Doctor stood up decisively, signaling that the conversation is over. He made to leave, actually walking over to the door this time, then paused with his hand on the doorknob. "I thank you." Then he was gone.

I stared after him, feeling like I'd just fallen into a hole. A very deep one. I had no idea how I was going to handle this. I mean, me, finding missing girls and working with faeries? That was so far removed from my normal life. "God," I sighed, flopping back onto the bed and staring at the ceiling. "What have I gotten myself into?"

I didn't get a response. 


	4. Überschallknall

Today was a Saturday, which meant it was the perfect time to go to people's houses and pry into their lives. I looked down at the address Anji had given me and sighed again. I'd spent the entire morning figuring out a way to get to Sam's place. It was a couple miles away, which was _technically _within walking distance. I just didn't relish the thought of being out in the cold for hours. Y'know that thing I mentioned earlier, about technology not liking magic? Yeah, that applies to cars too.

Not that I have a car. Or the money to take a cab. Anji was out of town on some stock-business thing, which meant I couldn't hitch a ride from her either. Not that I wanted to. I was a detective now, damn it, and detectives didn't get rides from their tiny friends with their even tinier cars.

Anyway, the point was that I'd just walked for an hour and a half in terrible weather. It wasn't snowing yet, thank God, despite Anji's ominous predictions. I was standing on the street corner across from the place where Sam Jones and her parents lived. It was a nice enough house, small and cozy-looking. Reminded me a bit of one of the foster homes I'd stayed in as a kid.

Now all I had to do was muster up the courage to go over and knock on the door. I ran over some introductory sentences in my head: "Hi, my name's Fitz Kreiner, sorcerer-turned-detective who's investigating your daughter's disappearance on the behalf of a faerie." Yeah. That'd go down swell.

Argh. I swore under my breath, causing a passing old man to stare at me disapprovingly. I smiled at him weakly and finally kicked myself into motion, crossing the street. I could feel his eyes on me as I went, far more intense than they ought to be. Wait a minute. It wasn't…I turned around, but the old man had disappeared. I shook my head and told myself I was getting paranoid. Paranoid-er. Whatever.

I turned back to the house, took a deep breath, and rapped on the door. There was a long silence. I felt pretty awkward, just standing out there in full view of anyone on the street. They probably weren't home, stupid. I was debating between knocking again and slinking away when the door cracked open.

"Yes?" A nondescript-looking man –Mr. Jones, I supposed- stared out at me warily. I suddenly realized that I looked pretty shady, dressed in my leather jacket and ratty jeans. Had I even shaved this morning? Nope. Good job. Way to inspire trust. "If you're selling stuff, we don't want any." He started to close the door.

"I'm not!" I blurted out and he paused. "Um. I apologize for any intrusion, but I'm investigating the disappearance of your daughter." Oh, that was tactful. "I was wondering if we could talk."

"I don't have a daughter," the man said, brow furrowed with confusion and what looked like mild alarm. I blinked. Despite all the scenarios I'd run through in my head, I hadn't been expecting this. Maybe I'd got the wrong person?

"Are you Lucas Jones?" I asked cautiously.

"I am."

"Uh, well. Your daughter, Sam, went missing last week. About this tall?" I held my hand out helpfully. The man still looked blank. "Blonde? No?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He was starting to get upset. "Now kindly get off my property before I call the police."

"Okay, okay, I'm going." I raised my hands placating and backed away. "Sorry to bother you." The man sniffed and slammed the door shut, leaving me stunned on the sidewalk. Then the front window curtain twitched and he glared out at me, cellphone raised in a meaningful gesture. I gave him a weak smile and turned around quickly, walking away as fast as I could. I slowed as I reached the street intersection, stuffing my hands into my pockets and thinking. Hard.

What the hell had that been about? Not wanting to talk I'd be able to understand, but this? Unless that was some sort of desperate avoidance tactic, there was something seriously wrong here. I glanced back at the house and blinked again. I could've sworn I saw…_something. _A shadow, maybe, slipping away. The air felt different now. Greasier. I bit my lip, debating. It probably wasn't anything, just a figment of my imagination. But then again…

"Ah, to hell with it," I muttered, setting off towards where I'd seen the shadow. It had run past the Jones' house, into an empty, fenced-off lot. I peered over the fence but didn't see anything but a couple of straggly bushes. I ignored the more sensible part of me that was pointing out what a bad idea this was and slipped through the gap between two boards.

The lot looked even emptier now that I was inside. "Well, this was a bust," I said aloud to nobody, voice echoing stupidly in the deserted yard. I turned to leave and found myself staring right into the eyes of a nightmare.

"Holy hell!" I jumped back, bringing up a spell reflexively, staring at the thing in front of me. It was small and resembled an ape. Well. If apes had burning coals for eyes. Aw, damnit. It was a demon, wasn't it. I'd met one of them before and hadn't exactly enjoyed the experience. "Are you kidding me? Are you seriously- it's broad daylight!"

The demon didn't seem to care about my complaints. It chattered at me, a low, vicious sound, baring razor-sharp teeth. I swallowed, suddenly scared stiff. I had no idea how strong this thing was. If this came down to a fight – and it was looking awfully like it was – the odds of me ending up grievously injured were fairly high. "Ok, hey, maybe we can talk this out-"

It didn't want to talk it out. The demon leapt at me, going straight for my throat, and I screamed out a spell. "Überschallknall!"

Yeah, yeah, my spells are in German. Don't judge. I learned them from my dad.

There was a high-pitched whine and then the air just exploded. I hadn't expected the blast to be as powerful as it was and it sent both me and the demon flying backwards. My head smacked into something hard –probably the ground, the sensible part of me that really wished I had listened to it in the first place and just left whispered in my ear- and I collapsed, dazed. I could hear the demon screeching angrily and hoped I'd at least blown the little bastard's eardrums out.

No such luck. I levered myself up just in time to see it charging me, apparently unharmed. I didn't have time to get another spell out before it crashed into me, smashing my head into the ground again. Then the thing was on top of me, heavy and foul smelling, snapping at my neck and tearing at my arms and chest with sharp claws. I would've screamed if it hadn't been carving the air out of my lungs. I tried to push it away but it was too strong and I couldn't find the air to speak a spell to save myself and there was blood everywhere and hell it _hurt. _

I think I probably would've died then if the Doctor hadn't shown up. I didn't know where he came from or how he'd gotten here but I wasn't about to complain. The Doctor picked the demon up with one hand and threw it clear across the yard, almost effortlessly. His eyes were wild, more than I'd ever seen them before, and absolutely burning with fury.

I saw him stalk across the lot to where the demon lay in a crumpled heap, tensed, almost like a wild animal. My vision was starting to fade so I couldn't really make out the details of what was happening. I could've sworn I saw fire, although that might've just been the head damage talking.

There was a sudden sickening crunch and the demon howled in agony, cutting off with a wet gurgle. Gross, I thought to myself, feeling oddly disconnected from reality. There was a silence and then the Doctor appeared over me. I hadn't even heard his footsteps. Not fair. His face was concerned and his pupils were huge and black and then they grew until the only thing I could see was black and-


	5. Don't Move

I woke up in my bed, under a pile of blankets. I blinked up at my ceiling –had that crack gotten bigger?- momentarily disoriented. How had I gotten here? More pressingly, was I alive?

The pain broadsided me a second later and I sucked in a breath, too shocked to scream. Yep. Definitely alive, then. My head was killing me and I couldn't really feel my torso, which was worrying. I was debating whether or not sitting up to check that I was still in one piece was a good idea when a voice spoke.

"You're awake."

"Wh-" I started in surprise, attempting to prop myself up on my elbows so I could see who was in here with me. The action sent a twinge of pain through me and I gritted my teeth.

"Don't move," the voice said disapprovingly, and a cold hand pushed me back down. The Doctor leaned over me, coatless. His hair was a mess and there was a long scratch across the side of his face. It disappeared as I watched, healing up, and I blinked. That was kinda gross. "How are you feeling?"

It took my several tries to find my voice. "Like hell," I finally managed, voice thready. "What happened?"

"I killed the demon and brought you back here. Your injuries were non-lethal."

"Oh. That's good." I didn't ask how he'd gotten me back to my apartment. The sudden image of the Doctor hailing a cab struck me. My very out-of-it mind thought that was hilarious and I started laughing, weakly. The Doctor just stared, looking completely baffled. "Sorry. Um. Thanks for rescuing me. Really. How'd you know I was there, though?"

The Doctor smiled and shrugged. "I am…" His form flickered suddenly, lilting into the old man I'd seen yesterday before solidifying back into the dandyish appearance I was used to. Watching him left a blurred after print in my eyes that made me feel slightly nauseous. "…very knowledgeable," he finished.

"Hey," I said, cottoning on. "You were following me?" The Doctor smiled again but didn't say anything. On one hand, that was kind of creepy, but on the other…I really think I would've died if he hadn't been there.

"I like to stay on top of things. I was also concerned there might be danger." His face darkened and he glanced, eyes narrowing. "I unfortunately turned out to be right."

"No kidding." I tried to turn my head so I could look at him better. Bad move. A wave of pain slammed into me and I gasped. The Doctor moved his gaze back onto me, instantly concerned.

"I told you not to move."

"Sorry." I bit my lip. "Um. How bad is it?" I waved a hand above the covers, suddenly realizing I was shirtless. I wasn't sure how I felt about having the Doctor undress me. "Did it ruin my astonishingly good looks?" I joked, trying to distract myself from the pain.

"You will be fine. Look." The Doctor sat down on the bed next to me and pulled back the blankets. The cold air in my apartment assaulted me and I shivered.

"Um. Can I sit up?" Why I was asking for permission I didn't know. The Doctor eyed me for a moment before nodding reluctantly. I sat up slowly, trying to minimalize the pain. It still hurt like hell, though. I took a deep breath and steeled myself to look down, expecting to see wounds all over my chest.

Nothing. There was nothing there. The skin was unbroken and looked perfectly normal. "W…" I trailed off, at a loss for words. "What?"

"A healing spell," the Doctor said by way of explanation. "I fixed the physical damage, but the feeling of pain will last for a while. My apologies."

"How did you do that?" I goggled at him. I hadn't known something like that was even possible. The Doctor looked puzzled.

"It is not a very difficult spell. Can you not do it?"

"No. I can't even heal a paper cut."

"Oh." The Doctor leaned back, studying me with those intense blue eyes. I swallowed, suddenly feeling very vulnerable without my shirt. He moved forward abruptly, trailing a finger along my collarbone. I yelped and batted his hand away. The Doctor drew back, looking affronted.

"S-sorry," I stammered out. "Your hands are cold."

"Hmm." The Doctor made a noncommittal noise. He grabbed one of my hands and held it in his own, scrutinizing it intently.

"What are you doing?"

"You are very thin," he said solemnly, dropping my hand. If I were a more paranoid person I would've thought he had plans to eat me. Ha.

"Can you not criticize my body?" I tried to scoot away. Discreetly. The Doctor noticed and narrowed his eyes. I offered him a weak smile.

"Do you eat enough?" He actually sounded distressed, which just freaked me out. Why would a faerie be so interested in someone like me?

"Probably not," I admitted. "I don't really have a lot of money." I was doing okay at the moment, but there had been times in the past where I'd had to skip meals.

"I see." The Doctor paused for a second, tipping his head to the side. "Lie back down," he said commandingly. I wasn't about to argue. It was cold without the blankets and besides, I was feeling pretty exhausted.

"Don't mess my place up." I eyed him, yawning. Falling sleep in front of a faerie was probably a very bad idea, but I'd never been one for doing the smart thing. The Doctor shook his head. He might've smiled; my eyes had decided to stop focusing on stuff.

"Far be it from me to create a mess. Go back to sleep."

"Ok," I muttered, burrowing under the blankets. I blacked out pretty quickly.


	6. Dinner Date

**6.**

The next time I woke up, it was dark. I blinked blearily, trying to peer through the gloom. "Doctor?" I said, wondering if he was still here. I didn't get a response, which meant he was either in my apartment and doing that creepy statue impersonation thing he did, or. more plausibly, he really was gone. There was a sudden racket at my door and it creaked open slowly. The Doctor hadn't locked it, apparently. A thousand possibilities ran through my mind: burglars, more fae, burglar fae.

"I thought you were going to fix this door," Anji's voice complained, and I relaxed instantly. "It still sticks."

"I meant to. It's just that I never got around to it," I called back apologetically, still half-asleep.

"Hmph." Anji snorted disapprovingly. I could see her fumbling for the light switch, a small black smudge in the dark. I heard the switch click a couple times, but nothing happened. "Oh, come on. Did you blow out the lights again?"

"Yeah. There's some candles on the table. Hold on a sec." I disentangled my arm from the blankets and flicked my hand, muttering "feuer" under my breath. My motley collection of candles flared into life. They illuminated the kitchen and dining area: about half my apartment. Anji made her way into the light, holding what looked like a bag of groceries. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind having a beautiful woman in my place, but…"

"Stop it," Anji said mildly, putting the bag down on the countertop. "Blame that faery friend of yours."

"What?"

"I got back home and found him in my house having a tea party with Chloe. Scared me half to death."

"What?" I asked again. Somehow I couldn't quite picture that. "A tea party, really?"

"Yeah." Anji shook her head, smiling faintly. "He seemed pretty involved in it. He's very nice, for one of the fae." I had to agree with her there. "Anyway. He gave me some money once I stopped trying to attack him and told me to buy you food."

"Oh, God," I groaned, burying my face in my pillow. "That's embarrassing." Anji's words struck me and I raised my head, eying her. "You attacked him?"

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? I thought he was going to hurt Chloe." Note to self: don't mess with Anji's maternal instincts. "Come over here and help me with this stuff."

"Ugh. Fine." I sat up cautiously. I was feeling a lot better, surprisingly. The pain was still there but it wasn't nearly intense as it had been earlier. I got out of bed and padded over to the kitchen, grabbing a clean shirt off the floor as I went.

"How are you doing?" Anji asked once I'd reached her. Her face in the flickering candlelight was concerned. "He said you'd been attacked."

"Yeah." I shrugged into the shirt. "I'm fine. The Doctor patched me up."

"The Doctor, huh? Guess he lives up to his name." Anji glanced sideways at me. "What happened?"

"I went to Sam's house and got jumped by a demon." I crossed my arms, shuddering at the memory.

"Sam?" Anji sounded distant, like someone trying to remember something.

"Sam Jones. Y'know, the girl who disappeared?"

"Oh. Yes, Sam. Right." She shook her head. "Sorry." I stared at her. Something was up. First Sam's dad, now Anji...people were starting to forget this girl. That worried me. "A demon, though? Sounds nasty."

"It was. Haven't seen one of those things since my mom died."

"Hmm." Anji bit her lip, then shook her head. "Anyway. Food." She pointed at the bag and I eyed it suspiciously.

"You didn't get any of that weird organic stuff, did you?"

"No, Fitz. I know you hate healthy food," she said dryly.

"Damn right I do." I pulled the bag towards me and peered inside. "I don't suppose you picked up any cigarettes?" I asked hopefully. Anji wrinkled her nose.

"Of course not. You really should quit, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, pulling food out of the bag. "Thanks for this."

"No problem." Anji smiled at me. "I can't stay, though. I have to put Chloe to bed. The Doctor said he'd be by later." She paused for a second. "You know, I think he likes you."

"I wish he didn't. Do you know how scary it is to even be in the same _room _as something like him?"

"I heard that," the Doctor said from behind us. I stifled a yelp, dropping the can I was holding. It rolled towards the window and the Doctor stopped it with his foot. He bent down and picked it up as he walked toward us. He nodded at Anji as he passed. "Thank you for doing this."

"Sure." She turned to leave and I gave her my best pleading look. Anji just shook her head. "See you later, Fitz. Doctor." She left the area of light and I heard a muffled curse as she stumbled over something. Then the door clicked open and Anji was gone, leaving me alone with the Doctor.

I turned to him with a nervous smile. "Um, about what I just said-"

"It's fine." He waved a dismissive hand, stepping closer. I backed away and he frowned, taking another step forward. I made to back away again and he grabbed my wrist. "Stop moving," the Doctor said in a voice tinged with frustration. "I just want to ask how you are feeling."

"Uh," I started. Jesus, his hand was freezing. "A lot better, actually. Thanks."

"Good." The Doctor let go with a satisfied look on his face. "Go sit down."

"Ok…" I did as he said, a bit puzzled. I watched him as he emptied the grocery bag on the counter. "What are you doing?"

"Cooking," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. "You need protein. Do you like chicken?"

"Yes," I said automatically before my mind processed what he'd said. "Wait, hold on. What?" That wasn't suspicious in the least. "Look-" I said, pushing the chair back.

"Sit down." The Doctor didn't even turn around, just kept rummaging through my cabinets. I dropped back down immediately. "Where do you keep your cooking utensils?"

"Bottom shelf, third cabinet," I replied distractedly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The Doctor turned around, holding a pan. He'd managed to find one made of aluminum. He seemed genuinely confused by my question.

"Um." I blinked. "Because it's not really a thing faeries do? Cooking for humans?"

The Doctor made a harumphing noise and turned back to the stove. "I am hardly a typical fae," he said quietly. Anji's words came back to me. _I think he likes you._

Great.

"I've figured. Look, as nice as this is, I'm not exactly sure I trust you."

"Fitz!" The Doctor set the pan down forcefully, turning around with a growl. Crap. I'd said the wrong thing and now he was going to kill me.

"Sorry, sorry!" I held my arms up defensively, wondering if throwing a candle at the Doctor would do anything more than irritate him. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that-" The Doctor stepped across to the table and I closed my eyes, flinching away.

"Fitz," the Doctor said again, more quietly this time. I cautiously opened one eye to find him crouched down in front of me. He gently pushed my arms aside and reached a hand towards my face. I pulled away from the touch and he dropped his hand with a sigh. "I am not going to hurt you. All right?"

I bit my lip, then nodded. I believed him. For now, at least. "Yeah. All right."

"Good." The Doctor stood up decisively. He walked back over to the stove and started clattering around.

"Um, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," the Doctor said, dumping some food into the pan. "You would just mess it up."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, and the Doctor shot me a grin over his shoulder.

"Tell me what you found out from Samantha's father."

"I don't know." I leaned my elbows on the table and sighed, watching a candle moodily. "I asked him some questions but he said he didn't even have a daughter. What's up with that? And then Anji too. She forgot about Sam for a bit before you came. I don't know what's going on."

"That is worrying," the Doctor mused, cutting up a carrot. I don't even own a cutting board.

"Why was there a demon there, anyway? Did somebody send it? What for?" I rested my forehead on the table and groaned. Too many questions, exactly zero answers. "Ugh." I heard a footstep and looked up to see the Doctor setting a pair of plates down on the table. How the hell had he cooked that so fast? Whatever. It looked good.

"We will have to find out, then." The Doctor sat down across from me.

"Yeah," I said glumly. "I want to go back to that lot, take a poke around."

"I will come with you. For protection."

"Thanks." I hated to admit it, but that made me feel a lot better. If there were any more nasties hanging around that area I could do with a bit of supernatural back-up. I picked up my fork and poked at the chicken experimentally. The Doctor had managed to whip up some sort of culinary masterpiece in less than an hour. I'd only had food this fancy a handful of times before in my life, and it was a bit weird to be eating it in my kitchen, surrounded by candles. Kind of like a romantic date.

And I had not just thought that.

I took a bite and glanced up to see the Doctor watching me anxiously. "What?" I asked after I'd swallowed.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. Yeah, actually. This is really good." The Doctor gave me a pleased smile and dipped his head, picking up his own fork.

The rest of the evening kind of passed by in a blur. I zoned out about halfway through the meal, suddenly exhausted. I think I remember the Doctor helping me to bed. I could hear him washing the dishes as I lay in bed, which was weird. There was a faery in my apartment washing dishes. Weird.

That was the last thought I had before I fell asleep again.


	7. Flowers

I was standing outside the front of my apartment building finishing a smoke when the Doctor appeared out of absolutely freaking nowhere. To my credit, I didn't jump or scream or anything like that. Ok, maybe I did. But just a little.

"Hello," the Doctor said, practically beaming. I could've sworn his teeth looked sharper this morning.

"Uh. Hi." I blew out a cloud of smoke and the Doctor watched it fade away curiously, head tipped to the side. "You startled me."

"My apologies." The Doctor glanced at me, then back to where the smoke had been. He hadn't blinked once, which was more than a little unnerving. Then he tipped his head back and exhaled, a long, white trail of vapor escaping into the air. I stared at him, dumbfounded. The air outside wasn't cold enough to freeze breath yet, so how the hell had he done that? The Doctor noticed my stare and blinked slowly, smiling innocently at me.

"How...never mind." I dismissed the question, writing it off as another faerie trick. I shook my head and stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray on the garbage can before stuffing my hands in my pockets, wishing I actually had a decent pair of gloves. "Did you want something?"

"Are you going to investigate the lot now?" The Doctor had moved closer and I forced myself to stay still.

"Nah. It's Monday, I gotta go to work."

"Oh." The Doctor frowned briefly. "May I come with?"

"No!" The words were out of my mouth before I'd even had time to think. The Doctor narrowed his eyes and I swallowed nervously. "S-sorry, what I meant is, um...I don't think that'd be a very good idea."

"Why not?" He was doing that head-tipping thing again, looking absolutely crestfallen. I felt like I'd just kicked a puppy. Maybe letting him tag along wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Ok. Hold up. Don't being going soft, I chided myself. God only knew what kind of trouble he could get up to with all those plants. He'd probably get me fired or something, and then where would I be?

I braved a glance at the Doctor, who was giving me the saddest look I'd ever seen, and felt my resolve waver. Damn emotionally manipulative faeries. "Ok," I sighed. "You can come with. Just stay out of trouble, all right?" The Doctor's face lit up instantly and he nodded, smiling.

"I knew you'd say yes," he said in what sounded like a very smug tone. I eyed him.

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"You are an honest man."

"No I'm not," I said, affronted. "I lie all the time. I'm the most untrustworthy person to exist."

The Doctor shook his head. "That's not true. Why would you believe that?"

"Dunno," I muttered, looking away. "Guess if you hear something enough…"

A cold hand touched my face and I jumped slightly, turning to look down at the Doctor. He was staring at me, his bright blue eyes unreadable. "Wrong." His voice was tight. "The people who said that to you, they were wrong. I know. I can see your heart." The Doctor moved his hand down, pressing it against my chest. "And I am always right."

"Oh, are you now?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood. There was this weird heaviness in the air. It didn't feel _bad_, necessarily, but I wasn't sure if I liked it. The Doctor drew back with a laugh, the silvery sound of it sending a shiver through me.

"Yes." He said with total confidence. Then he blinked, staring at me. "When does your work start?"

"Crap." I checked my watch. "I'm going to be late. Again." I started walking as fast as I could, the Doctor keeping pace with me easily. I work at a garden center a few blocks away. It's not exactly my dream career but it's something. Business had been slowing down for the past couple weeks due to the onset of winter, but it would spring right back up again next month. Christmas trees and wreaths and mistletoe and all that. You know.

I practically ran down the sidewalk, weaving through the crowds. The Doctor didn't seem to be having any trouble at all, as evidenced by the fact that he was spouting plant trivia at me. "Did you know," he said, not in the slightest bit out of breath, "that in the language of flowers, snapdragons symbolize deceit-"

"That's...great," I cut him off, breathing heavily. "But we're here." I leaned against the brick front of the garden center, trying to get some air back into my lungs. Man, I needed to exercise more. "You can't hang around me all day, y'know. I'll get in trouble."

"I will stay out of your way then." The Doctor breezed inside, leaving me staring after him in exasperation. Ugh. I followed after him a few seconds later but he was nowhere in sight. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Okay. You can handle this," I muttered to myself. "It's just a normal work day, even though a faerie who won't leave you alone is here doing God knows what."

"Fitz, who're you talking to?" A passing coworker paused, holding a potted plant.

"Nobody!" I gave them what I hoped was a disarming smile but probably looked more like I was going off my rocker.

"Ok," they said doubtfully. "You know you're late again, right?"

"Yeah," I said glumly. "Bad couple days."

"Well, we covered for you. If you get back there fast enough you should be okay."

"Thanks." I gave them a sincere smile and went to check myself in. I usually work at the register and I quickly set everything up, grateful that my boss hadn't noticed my lateness. At least I had an actual excuse this time.

The excuse in question popped up about twenty minutes later, clutching a fern. "This place is wonderful," the Doctor said with a smile. He sounded like he meant it. "Did you know there are butterflies?"

"Yeah, we keep a garden for them. It attracts customers."

"Hmm." The Doctor made a humming noise, staring off into space for a few minutes. Then he shook his head and held the fern out. "This is for you."

"Um. Thanks." I took the plant and placed it on the floor, mentally making a note to replace it when my shift was over.

"Do you know flower language?" The Doctor asked suddenly, leaning over the counter.

"No," I said cautiously, dragging out the 'o'. "Why?"

"Humans," the Doctor said sadly, ignoring me. "You make up something beautiful, then forget all about it." He shook his head and turned around, disappearing back into the rows of plants. I decided not to question what that had been about.

The rest of the day dragged by. My job is hardly the most exciting thing in the first place, and it's even more boring on slow days with barely any customers. I didn't see the Doctor again until a couple hours later, right before closing time. He was holding another plant: a flower this time.

"Look at this begonia," he said mournfully. The flower didn't look too good, to be honest. The stem was drooping and the petals were falling off at an alarming rate. "I found it crushed in the back of the store."

"Give it to me. We'll throw it out, it's not worth anything anymore." I reached out to take the flower but the Doctor snatched it away, shaking his head.

"No. I want it."

"Doctor, it's half-dead. What're you going to do with it?"

"Rescue it." His eyes stared into mine and I was once again grateful that we couldn't soulgaze. I sighed, deciding to argue with him anymore. He was a faerie, after all. Maybe he'd bring it back to the Never Never where it'd turn out to be a flower princess under a spell. Or something.

"All right. You have to pay for it still, though."

"I know." The Doctor set the begonia down on the counter and rummaged through his coat pockets, pulling out things that couldn't possibly fit in there and handing them to me. I didn't recognize any of the objects. "Ah. This will do." He produced a hundred-dollar bill with a flourish and I blinked. What was a faerie doing with paper money?

"No kidding." I took the money and dug through the register for change. "Ok, we have to close up shop soon. You have to leave." I paused, then added, "please." The Doctor took his change and the the begonia, hugging the plant to his chest.

"Are you going to the lot afterwards?"

"Yeah, might as well. Hopefully I'll find something before it gets too dark."

"I will wait for you outside." The Doctor smiled, then turned and made his way to the doors. I shook my head as he left, closing up my area. Bring Your Faerie to Work Day had gone a ton better than I was expecting, which was good. That meant, of course, due to the inverse ratio of the universe that said every good thing must be followed up by a bad thing, tonight's investigative activities were going to go down terribly.

Fab.


	8. Square One

The Doctor was waiting for me outside like he said he'd be. I noticed that he didn't have the begonia anymore and idly wondered where it'd gotten to. The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees and the unexpected cold slapped me in the face. The light was dim, the sun threatening to set within the hour. I'd better hurry if I was going to find anything before it got dark. "God, it's freezing out here," I complained, my breath billowing away. The Doctor just smiled. I noticed his breath wasn't freezing. He didn't look bothered by the cold at all, in fact. Lucky.

"Perhaps if you wore warmer clothes…" The Doctor wrinkled his nose at me disapprovingly. "How do you manage by yourself?"

"Barely," I sighed, hunkering down into my jacket. "C'mon, let's go."

"Wait." The Doctor caught my arm as I passed. "Where are you going?"

"Uh...to the lot?"

"You can take the long way, if you wish, in the cold and the dark. Or…" He paused, and I could've sworn he grinned mischievously. "Let me take you there."

"And how are you planning on doing that?" I eyed him warily.

"Like this." The Doctor wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against him. I yelped in surprise, struggling to get free.

"Wh-what're you doing?" I gasped, feeling my face burn red.

"Hold still." The Doctor's voice was muffled, coming from somewhere around my collar bone. He was ridiculously short for a faerie. "If the teleportation process goes wrong you could lose a limb. Or your head."

"_What?" _

"Be quiet. I am trying to concentrate." The world around us blurred, the street fading away. I felt like was floating in limbo. At least until reality snapped back into place and left me staggered. The Doctor relaxed his grip and I promptly fell down on the cold, packed earth of the empty lot, feeling very sick to my stomach.

"Ugh," I groaned, holding my head in my hands and trying to get everything to stop spinning. "Let's not do that again."

"The process is a bit rough on mortals, I'll admit," the Doctor said apologetically, holding out a hand. I took it hesitantly and he pulled me to my feet. "But it saved time."

"Yeah, no kidding." I wobbled slightly and the Doctor grabbed my arm. I shook my head, trying to clear it. "Thanks. All right. Let's go take a poke around." The lot was just as empty as it had been two days ago, and I didn't have high hopes of finding anything. To make matters worse, the sun was setting, the light growing progressively dimmer by the minute. "I'll take this side, yeah?"

The Doctor dipped his head and headed towards the other side of the lot. It wasn't very big, maybe only a half-acre or so. I scanned the ground, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I passed a black stain on the ground and guessed that was where the Doctor had killed the demon. The air around the stain had a greasy feeling to it and I shuddered, turning away. I didn't want to remember the demon attack anymore than I had to.

"You find anything?" I called about after a half-hour of searching. It was almost completely dark by now and I couldn't make out the details of the ground anymore. The Doctor might've been having better luck. He could probably see in the dark for all I knew.

"No," came his reply, and I sighed in frustration.

"Great. It's getting too late, Doctor. We have to leave. Not by teleportation," I added quickly. I moved over to the gap in the fence and squeezed through, waiting for the Doctor to come out. A sudden bright flash of light went off nearby, practically blinding me. "Wh…" I blinked, trying to clear my vision. I saw a shape drop down from the fence about ten feet away from me. I couldn't make out the person's face through all the spots floating in front of my eyes, but I did notice one thing.

A camera. One of those old-fashioned ones, one that wouldn't be as affected by magic. Smart. Whoever the person was, they'd been taking pictures of us. There was no way that was good news. "Hey!" I shouted, moving towards the person. They took off running and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Damn it, I was going to have to chase them down, wasn't I? Great.

I ran after them. Now, I'm hardly in the greatest shape, but I can run pretty fast when I want to. Which, admittedly, is pretty rarely, but the point still stands. I caught up to them pretty quickly and move to tackle them to the ground, praying I wouldn't just fall flat on my face. My luck actually held for once and they went down heavily.

"Get off!" A hand shoved at me. The picture taker was a man, probably a couple years younger than me, and remarkably average looking. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, no can do," I panted, out of breath from the chase. "What's up with the pictures?"

"I'm not telling you." The man glared at me, clutching the camera. It had broken during the fall and he glared at me angrily. "You ruined it! Sabbath'll kill me!" His eyes widened suddenly, panicked that he'd let something slip. "Damn it."

"Sabbath? Are you serious?" What was it with baddies and mysterious names? "Okay, look-" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence. The man moved suddenly, punching me square in the face. The blow didn't break anything, but it did hurt enough to make me reel back. The man seized his chance and clambered to his feet, bolting away.

I sat there on the sidewalk, feeling pretty stupid. Some detective I am. The Doctor appeared a few seconds later. It was too dark to see anything by now, but I could recognize him by the smell of sandalwood.

"What happened?" He helped me to my feet again I sighed.

"I lost our only lead, that's what."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah." I ran a hand over my face. No blood, but there'd probably be a nasty bruise there tomorrow. "Yeah. Guy dropped a name, though. Sabbath. You ever hear it before?" There was a long silence, long enough to make me think the Doctor had left. "Doctor?"

"No." His voice sounded right next to my ear and I jumped slightly. I hadn't heard him move at all.

"Fab. Back to square one, then." I yawned, suddenly exhausted. "Ugh. I need to sleep."

"Very well."

"Wait, not like that!" I spoke too late. The Doctor had already grabbed me and the street was spinning. My apartment came into view and I flopped down on the bed, feeling miserable. "Ugh. Teleportation sucks," I muttered into a pillow. I heard the Doctor chuckle and lifted my head to glare at him. "I don't like you anymore," I said sourly.

"Don't lie." The Doctor bent over me, eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. "Go to sleep."

"I will, just as soon as you leave."

"All right then." The Doctor stood back up, smiling slightly. He wandered over to the window and opened it, sparing me a glance before he jumped outside. The window slammed shut behind him. I pulled a blanket over me, too tired and cold to change out of my clothes. I was getting nowhere with this investigation. All I had was a name.

Sabbath. Whoever they were, I had a feeling they were bad news.


	9. Sleep

There's literally no plot in this chapter it's just shameless shippy fluff.

I woke up in the early morning, which was fairly unusual for me. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper and can stay that way during explosions. I have, in fact. Don't ask. I groaned and rolled over and just about fell out of my bed when I saw the Doctor sitting next to me.

"Jesus!" I croaked, clutching my at my heart. "How long have you been here?"

The Doctor tipped his head to the side, considering. He was sitting cross-legged on top of the covers and had managed to lose both his coat and his shoes. "A few hours, at the most."

"Why?" I rubbed at my eyes. "Did you find something?"

"No." The Doctor bent over me, eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. "I merely wished to see you."

"What?" Realization dawned on me. "You've just been sitting here watching me sleep? That's really damned creepy."

"To humans, perhaps." The Doctor shrugged. "Move over."

"Uh. Why?" My brain was still half-asleep and I wasn't processing things very quickly. The Doctor let out an exasperated noise, narrowing his eyes.

"Why do you think?" He asked dryly, pushing the blankets back and slipping under them. "To make room for me, of course."

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on!" I held up a hand, feeling slightly panicky. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping." The Doctor stretched his arms out and slipped them around my waist, like a repeat of yesterday. I let out a yelp as he dragged me towards him, until my back was flush with his chest. "Mm." The Doctor let out a contented rumble and buried his face in my neck. "Much better."

I laid there completely frozen. Spooning with a faerie was not something I ever expected to do. My heart was going crazy. Just because of nerves, mind you. Nothing else. I mean, wouldn't you be scared if an ancient deadly being started snuggling up to you? "Um," I finally managed, voice slightly squeaky. "Why are you so hot?" The Doctor's torso was a lot warmer than I would've expected, what with his cold hands and all that.

"Why, thank you," the Doctor said mischievously. His lips brushed against my skin, sending a zing through me. "I do try."

"T-that's not what I meant!" I felt myself blush. "Not that you're...not that you're not very attractive-looking," I added, not wanting to offend him. Well, that was true. Faeries were beautiful and the Doctor was no exception. I could feel it when the Doctor chuckled, his breath warm on my neck, and my heart rate shot up about fifty percent. I made a vain attempt to escape but the Doctor just tightened his grip. I was trapped.

"Shh," he murmured. "Just sleep. I am not going to hurt you."

"I'm not worried about that," I said almost instantly, then paused, shocked. Somewhere along the line I'd started trusting the Doctor. Not entirely, not yet, but enough to believe him right now. "It's just...this is kinda weird for me," I confessed awkwardly.

"Would you rather me leave?"

"Um. Well. You don't have to if you don't want to," I muttered. That surprised me even more. If I had to admit it, this whole scenario wasn't half-bad. My room was cold and the Doctor was warm and decidedly comfy. The reasonable part of my brain was screaming at me that this was a very, very bad idea. I ignored it, as usual.

"I will stay then."

"Ok." I swallowed and forced myself to relax a little bit. The Doctor made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. I stifled a yawn and closed my eyes, allowing myself to be lulled back to sleep.


	10. Possibly A Warlock

The sound of the Doctor clattering around in the kitchen woke me up. I propped myself up on my elbows, blinking blearily. "What're you doing?"

"Cooking," the Doctor replied matter-of-factly, pulling things out of various cabinets like he owned the place.

"Oh. Okay." I sat up, yawning. That was pretty exciting news to me, not that I'd ever admit it. The Doctor was a decent cook. "What?"

"Omelettes."

I blinked. "I don't have eggs." The Doctor just turned towards me with a shrug, grinning. I hoped he hadn't stolen some hapless person's food.

"Go get dressed," he said, turning back to the stove.

"You can't just come into someone's place and order them around," I grumbled half-heartedly, rolling out of bed and crossing over to my dresser. The Doctor chuckled but didn't reply. I pulled a passably clean outfit out of the drawers. I'd have to do laundry again soon, which was never fun. Managed to set the machines on fire last time. "Be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Uh, to change?" I pointed towards the bathroom. "I'm not very well going to do it out here, am I?"

"Why not?" The Doctor was doing that head-tilting thing again, looking genuinely puzzled.

"W-well," I stammered, feeling myself blush. Somehow I got the feeling that saying 'because you're here and you kinda freak me out' wouldn't be the smartest move. "Just because!" I escaped to the bathroom and changed quickly, brushing my teeth as well while I was in there.

The Doctor had finished cooking when I came out. I pulled out a chair and sat down, eyeing the food hungrily. "Man, that smells good." I paused, thinking. "Is there a reason for this?"

"No." The Doctor leaned over me to set plates on the table. "I just felt like it."

"Thanks, anyway." If he wanted to cook, I wasn't going to argue with him. It was a major step up from my usual diet of frozen food and instant noodles. The Doctor smiled and sat down across from me. "Okay," I muttered around bites of really delicious omelette, "back to business." Steering our relationship back into professionalism seemed like a good idea.

The Doctor blinked slowly, looking slightly disappointed. Then he dipped his head. "Very well."

"Right. So. Sabbath. He's gotta be the one behind this." A sudden thought struck me and I put my fork down. "Damn. If he's the one who summoned that demon, we might be dealing with a warlock." I ran my hands through my hair with a groan. "Fab. First a disappearance – which was probably a kidnaping, then memory loss and demons, and now a warlock. How do I get myself into these kinds of situations?" I flopped back in the chair with a loud sigh. "Ugh."

"I am sorry." The Doctor said suddenly, making me look up in surprise. He was leaning forward slightly, eyes intense. "I wasn't expecting this. I did not mean to trouble you."

"It's fine." I gave him a weak smile. "Should've known something like this would happen when I said I'd help. Anyway- actually, hold on a sec." I finished up the last of the omelette. It was being very distracting. "Anyway. Sabbath. Any chance some of your fae friends would know of him?"

"No." He shook his head, looking tense all of a sudden.

"Couldn't you ask, though?"

"No!" The Doctor snapped and I jumped, bringing up a spell instinctively. I must've looked pretty panicky because he backtracked immediately. "No," the Doctor said in a much softer voice. "I am…" He hesitated. "Not very well-liked by my kin."

"Oh." For the life of me, I couldn't imagine why. The Doctor was pretty nice, for a faerie…and frankly, it kinda scared me how fond I was getting of him. "Why's that, then?"

He shrugged. "I hold different beliefs than them."

"Right. Fair enough. I'll ask around in the magic community." I ran my hands through my hair again and sighed. That'd be fun. I don't exactly get along with other magic users either. I stopped, suddenly, hands still on my head. "Crap. What time is it?"

"Seven-fifty," the Doctor replied automatically, like he some sort of internal time-keeping system. I swore and jumped to my feet. "What is wrong?"

"I'm gonna be late again." I kicked through the mess in my apartment, searching for my jacket. "Found it," I muttered, pulling it on. "Look. I'll stop by that wizard bar after my shift and nose around. We'll talk later." With that, I pulled on my shoes and fled for work. I felt bad for just leaving the Doctor there but there wasn't much I could do.

The life I lead, I swear.


	11. Fight or Flight

I was half-expecting the Doctor to be waiting for me when I got off work. He wasn't, of course, and I was surprised by the pang of disappointment that ran through me. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and sighed. Time to head over to that bar, then. Fab.

I had barely enough change to catch a bus downtown. It was pretty packed, full of people heading home after work. I was squeezed in the back and all but jumped out the door when the bus pulled up to the stop. The bar –it doesn't have a name, and it's more of a pub anyway- was located in a little side alley off the library. There's one of these places in every major city, a safe gathering spot for practitioners. I'd been there once or twice before. Didn't like it very much. They wouldn't let me play my guitar.

I walked down the alley. It was deserted and poorly lit, which was more than a bit unnerving. The bar had wards around it too keep regular people from wandering in, but still. It wouldn't kill anyone to put a few more lights up, would it?

I was about ten feet away from the front entrance when I heard the noise. I spun around, bringing up a spell, ready for whatever mugger or stray dog or something that wanted to rip me into small pieces. All right, maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

The noise came again, a kind of shuffling sound. Seemed to be coming from behind the trashcans outside the bar. I walked over cautiously, still keeping the spell in my mind. There was a sudden explosion of movement and a figure popped out from behind the trashcans and started booking it down the alley. I caught a glimpse of them as they went by.

It was the guy from yesterday, the picture-taker. I reflexively darted after him and reached out an arm, grabbing the hood of his jacket. He jerked to a stop, letting out a choked sound. "Well, well," I said, pulling him back. "Fancy meeting you again."

"Let me go!" He squirmed out of my grip and I quickly moved to block his escape.

"Nah, don't think so. I just wanna talk, okay? What's your name?" He glared at me, then over my shoulder at the street just beyond the mouth of the alley. "Don't think about trying anything, kid. There's about fifty wizards in that bar who'd be more than happy to help me out." Okay, I might've been exaggerating, both in the number and willingness of the bar patrons. Kid didn't need to know that, though.

He continued to glare, then looked down at the ground. "Sasha," he muttered sullenly, kicking at loose gravel.

"All right then, Sasha." I leaned back, crossing my arms. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" The kid didn't look up. "Who's this Sabbath? What's he done with Sam?"

"Who?" He glanced up, genuinely baffled. I bit my lip, frustrated.

"Sam Jones! The girl he kidnapped?" I might've jumped to conclusions, but it made sense. The Doctor said there'd been bad magic around her house, and if Sabbath was a warlock…

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sasha protested. "He just told me to keep an eye on you and that other guy, okay? That's all. I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Pretty sure stalking and taking pictures counts as an offense," I shot back. "Look, kid, here's the deal. Tell me where I can find this Sabbath and I'll forget we ever met. Okay?"

"No way." Sasha's face went pale. "You don't betray Sabbath and live. I-" His eyes widened suddenly. "Look out!"

"Yeah, like I'm falling for that," I scoffed. "Who do-" I cut off with a yelp as something heavy slammed into my back. I went down, skinning my palms on the gravel. Sasha seized this opportunity to escape, darting out of the alley and vanishing down the street. I groaned and rolled over, looking at the thing that'd hit me.

It looked like a man. At least, it did until its jaw unhinged and it shrieked in my face. I scrambled away, ignoring the stinging in my hands. Hell. I did not want to deal with a ghoul right now. I glanced at the bar, debating about running inside and screaming fro help, but the ghoul was blocking the way. I froze, debating what to do. There was no way I'd be able to outrun it, but if I at least got into the light…

I turned around and sprinted out into the street, hearing the ghoul scream behind me. I skidded to a stop beneath a streetlight, glancing around frantically. Why the hell was everything so empty tonight? "Now'd be a great time to show up, Doctor," I muttered under my breath, bringing up my strongest spell.

The ghoul bounded out of the alley, heading towards me at an alarming pace. "Überschallknall!" I shouted, attempting to aim the spell at the ghoul. I missed.

A car at the end of the street blew up, spraying debris all over the place. "Shit," I breathed, staring at it. A flying chunk of glass whistled past my face, sinking into the ghoul's neck with a gross, wet sound, right as it leapt at me. The ghoul fell to the ground with a gurgling cry and I backed away, gathering up another spell. Setting the thing on fire might put a stop to it. I hoped.

I was about to throw fire magic at the ghoul when I heard the sirens. The ghoul heard them too and it shook its head before staggering away. Smart. That probably meant it was working for someone. I didn't want to wait around for the cops to show up and took off running, just as a police car swept down the street.

"Damn it," I muttered, reversing direction. There was an exploded car, a puddle of blood, and me, a fleeing, shifty-looking man. It all looked pretty suspect.

"Stop!" One of the cops had gotten out of the car and was chasing after me. I glanced over my shoulder quickly, catching a glimpse of a stocky, redheaded woman. I tried to speed up, but using that big a spell had wiped me out. I was breathing hard and my ears were ringing, which seemed like a bad sign. The cop quickly caught up to me, grabbed my shoulder, and pinned me against the brick face of a building.

"You're under arrest for disturbing the peace," she was saying. Or at least that's what I thought she said; my ears had given up at this point. "You have the right…"

Sometimes I really hate my life.


	12. Jail Riot

"So," I said in an attempt to break the awkward silence, "what's your story?"

The other occupant of the holding cell shot me a withering glance. She was a short, blonde woman who looked completely exasperated- either with me or the fact that we were locked up. I couldn't tell. I'd managed to wheedle a name out of her about half an hour ago – Trix, by the way – but we hadn't spoken since.

"Con gone bad," she muttered. "You?"

"Um." I blinked, wondering how exactly to explain a ghoul attack to a non- practitioner. "I may have…accidently exploded a car."

Trix arched a brow. "Accidently," she repeated, dryly. I shrugged and gave her what I hoped was a winning smile but didn't come off as one. She smirked and shook her head. "That's a new one."

"Yeah." I slouched further into the bench, crossing my arms. "It was pretty new for me too. I've accidently blown up lots of things, but never a car."

"Wow," Trix drawled, dragging out the 'o'. "Walking disaster, aren't you."

"Pretty much." I sniffed, wondering why I was confessing stuff to a woman I barely knew. A con-woman to boot. "I have bad luck."

"Apparently." Trix twisted around to look through the holding cell bars, eyeing the guard. It was the same cop who'd arrested me. She was leaning against the wall, pointedly ignoring us and looking completely bored. "Hey, when do we get out of here?"

The cop looked like she was debating about whether or not to answer when another police officer stuck their head in the room. "Having fun, Compassion?"

"Don't call me that," she growled automatically.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Tobin." They left and she rolled her eyes.

"You gonna answer my question?" Trix asked again, sounding mildly miffed.

"You can get out right now if you have bail money," Tobin replied, deadpan.

Trix groaned and turned back around, crossing her arms with a huff. "My boss isn't going to be happy about this," she muttered under her breath.

"Your boss is bailing you out?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Trix sighed. "Called him already."

"Lucky. I'm stuck here 'till they decide to let me go." I'd called Anji briefly, mostly to let her know what had happened in case the Doctor came around asking questions. She'd yelled at me, because Anji gets angry when she's upset. The phone had decided to blow out then, saving me from the rest of her tirade. I'd still have to face it sooner-or-later, though. Fab.

"Sorry." Trix lifted a shoulder, actually sounding a bit like she meant it.

"Yeah, whatever." I rubbed at my eyes, suddenly bone-tired. "Been having a rough week." Rough didn't even begin to cover it. Sitting in jail, running on empty, I was starting to regret ever agreeing to help the Doctor. I wasn't going to back out now, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to complain about it.

Trix didn't reply. I shifted to look at Tobin, deciding to appeal once again. Sure, it didn't work the last three times, but you never know. "So," I started, and the cop rolled her eyes. "I know I've said this before, but I didn't mean to blow up that car. It was an accident. I was acting in self-defense."

"Sure," Tobin replied sarcastically. "Defending yourself from nothing."

"There was a gh-guy!" I protested. "He ran off."

Whatever Tobin was going to say was cut off by someone walking into the room. He was dressed like a cop, but I felt my eyes widen when I saw his face. It was the ghoul from last night. "Hey," Tobin started, hand drifting down to her gun. "You're not-" She didn't get a chance to finish. The ghoul grabbed her by the neck and threw her clear across the room. I winced as I heard Tobin thud into the wall, praying she wasn't dead.

Trix had jumped to her feet, staring at the ghoul in abject horror. Not that hard to do, seeing as it had unhinged its jaw and was stalking towards us. I eyed its claws nervously; I was pretty they could cut right through metal. "What the hell is that thing?" She demanded.

"Ghoul." I grimaced, hauling myself to my feet and trying to find enough energy to call up a spell.

The ghoul tensed, ready to leap.

I took a deep breath, fixing a spell in my mind.

The wall behind the holding cell exploded inwards.

I whipped around, staring as a figure clambered through the new hole it had just punched in the wall, dust and debris floating in the air. Somehow, I wasn't surprised to see that it was the Doctor. The ghoul growled behind me, and I whirled back to face it. It was staring at the Doctor, teeth bared. The two of them prowled around in a circle, eyeing each other, looking all the world like predatory animals about to start a fight.

"Doctor, what are you doing here?" I shouted, running over to the bars.

"Saving you," he replied, snarling at the ghoul. The sound terrified me. It was an absolutely primal noise, way too loud to have come from something as small as the Doctor. The ghoul made a guttural noise in return, and I wondered why nobody else was here yet. This was a police station. There had to be more cops around…unless the ghoul had killed all of them.

"Watch out!" I screamed as the ghoul pounced, gritting my teeth in frustration at not being able to do anything. There was no way I could cast anything in such an enclosed space without hurting everyone else along with the ghoul. Damn it, why hadn't I ever learned to control my magic better?

The Doctor spun around as I screamed, snatching the ghoul right out of the air and driving it into the ground. And I do mean _into_ the ground- its head had to be embedded a good inch into the concrete. Satisfied that the ghoul would be down for at least a little bit, the Doctor bounded across the room and did the impossible.

He grabbed one of the bars and tore it loose, throwing it down beside him.

The bar. The iron bar. That, as a faerie, he shouldn't have been able to touch. Which meant that he wasn't a faerie.

The Doctor had been lying to me.

"Get out," the Doctor snapped, moving away from the opening. I moved back to let Trix climb out first, still in a slightly dazed state.

A lot happened after that.

The ghoul picked itself out of the floor, ready to fling itself on the Doctor again. I was about to call out another warning when a gunshot rang out. Tobin, looking slightly battered, but definitely alive, stood shakily by the wall. One of her eyes flared a deep red. The ghoul jerked back, howling as the bullet slammed into its shoulder. I shoved Trix to the ground as it lashed out, nails slicing through the air right where her throat had been. She stared up at me, wide-eyed.

The Doctor picked up the bar and threw himself towards the ghoul. He caught it around the shoulders and forced it to the floor again, pinning it down. The Doctor lifted the bar, face contorted in fury, and I turned away when I realized what was about to happen. There was a nasty crunching noise as the Doctor drove the pole right through the ghoul's head, spearing it into the cement floor. The ghoul let out an ear-piecing scream, and I heard it thrashing about as it died.

The ghoul fell silent finally and I chanced a look. The Doctor was crouched over it, blood splattered all over his face. He turned to look at me, a wild look in his eyes, and I froze, suddenly scared to death of him.

"What…what the hell just happened?" Trix asked quietly, still sprawled on the floor. She was staring at the ghoul, shocked. A bit of the splatter had fallen on her too, and she reached up to wipe the blood away, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Somebody wanted one of you dead," Tobin replied, kicking the ghoul's body. "Ghouls are basically thugs for hire." Okay, definitely not a normal cop then. She looked at me, eyes narrowed. "You're the mostly useless wizard I've ever seen."

"Sorcerer," I replied automatically, not really paying attention. I was still watching the Doctor. "Don't you have something to explain to me, Doctor?" I asked very quietly.

He sighed, running a hand through his fair. The blood on his face had dried already, and it cracked as he spoke. "Fitz-" The Doctor broke off, biting his lip. "Not here." He stepped forward, and before I had a chance to protest, slipped an arm around my waist, and we were gone.


	13. Big Damn Reveal

The Doctor effectively dumped me in whatever place we'd teleported to, because as soon as the new reality had snapped in he'd vanished again with a stern stay-put look, leaving me alone to figure out where the hell I was. I glared at the empty air where the Doctor had been from my position on the floor, feeling sick and betrayed. Finding out the Doctor had been lying to me had _hurt_, and I was angry with myself for even getting attached to him. What the hell had I been expecting?

I climbed to my feet with a low, upset growl and paced around in circles for a while, until I had calmed down enough to take in my surroundings. What I saw literally took my breath away.

The Doctor had left me in what looked like a Gothic cathedral, all vaults and arches and pillars, a thousand stained glass windows casting patterns on the floor. I craned my neck up in an attempt to find the ceiling, but failed. I did, however, see what appeared to be stars, twinkling in the shadowy distance. The entire place fairly screamed of ancientness and tranquility, and it was awe-inspiring in its beauty.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked quietly from behind me. I jumped a bit and whirled around, backing away slightly in the process. I didn't exactly want to be near him at the moment.

"What is this place?" I asked in response, pretending to study one of the windows and pointedly ignoring him. I heard the Doctor sigh I crossed my arms, biting my lip. I _wanted _to be able to take satisfaction in making him sad, damn it. Instead, it only succeeded in making the dull ache in my chest worse.

"If you want to use technical terminology, I suppose it's my…lair." The Doctor admitted, and I shot him a quick, surprised glance.

"A _lair_? What are you, some sort of supervillain?" The words came out harsher, more accusatory than I was expecting, and the Doctor's face visibly fell. "Tell me the truth, Doctor."

"Fitz, I-"

"Don't you dare try and get out of it!" I spun around to face him. "I trusted you! I knew that a bad idea but I did it anyway, because I liked you, and now I find out you've been lying to me!" I realized that I was shouting but I didn't care. I was mad and hurt, and I wanted the Doctor to see that.

"I never said I was a faerie," the Doctor said calmly, even though his body was tense.

"Yeah, but you let me believe you were one! You played me!" I rubbed at my eyes angrily, appalled to find that I was crying. "Was anything you said true? Or were you just using me as _entertainment_?" I spat the last sentence at him and ground to a halt, breathing heavily. I had plenty more to say, but I was starting to get too worked up to even form proper sentences.

The Doctor shook his head slowly, a pained expression on his face. "Fitz. I am sorry. I am sorry I did not tell you the truth from the start. I…I panicked.

My mind flashed back to the Doctor, coolly impaling the ghoul through the head, and I stared at him incredulously. "_You_? _You _panicked? About _what?"_

"I thought you would not want anything to do with me if you knew what I was!" The Doctor shouted back, tugging at his hair. "It's not fair! I know better than to get attached to mortals! I know that! First Samantha, and now you!" He broke off and glared at me, eyes wild and bright. I stared back, stunned into silence. "When I look at a human," the Doctor continued, more quietly, "I see them. Everything they are, their personality, what they have done and what they will do."

The Doctor moved closer, staring into my eyes like he was trying to climb inside me. I found I was unable to move. "I look at you and I see _you. _Your soul ensnared me and I…I…don't you see?" He grabbed my hand and raised it to his mouth, kissing it almost desperately.

It burned.

I screamed and snatched my hand away, looking down at the red mark slowly forming on the skin. "W-what the hell?" I stammered, looking up at him in shock and pain. The Doctor took a step back, looking horrified.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I-"

"It's ok, Doctor." I cut him off, shaking my hand. It didn't hurt any more, surprisingly. "Can you just…tell me what you actually are? I don't know how much more of this I can take. Please."

The Doctor let out a long sigh, running his hands through his mussed hair. "I'll do better than that. I will show you." He let his hands fall back down and he tipped his head back, eyes closed. His body started to glow, form flickering and blurring violently at the edges. The light grew so bright that I had to look away. I heard a rustling, slithering sort of noise, and the glow died down. I chanced a look and felt my eyes go wide in shock when I saw the Doctor.

"Holy shit," I breathed, staring up at him. "You're a…" I trailed off, at a complete loss for words.

"A Dragon," the Doctor rumbled in agreement, the words seeming to come from inside my head. My knees suddenly felt shaky and I sat down abruptly on the floor before they had a chance to give out. Holy hell. The Doctor was a _Dragon_, capital D. A semi-divine cosmic being that ruled part of the universe.

It was hard to reconcile the small, curly-haired Doctor I knew with the massive god in front of me. He had to be topping thirty feet, all coils and iridescent, shimmering scales. The Doctor very much resembled the Asian depiction of dragons, with his long body and curly mane and antler-like horns. No wings, though, I noticed. He managed to be both beautiful and terrifying at once.

"I cuddled with a Dragon," was all I could think to say. The Doctor laughed, a melodious, silvery sound, and lowered his head until he was at roughly eye level with me. His eyes were still the same, and I suddenly understood why there had always been such a wild look in them.

"I am sorry for not explaining this sooner," he said quietly, although his mouth didn't move.

"Nah, I-I get it." I lifted my hand tentatively and reached out towards the Doctor, only to stop and draw back when I realized what I was doing. God. It wasn't like he was pet horse or something. The Doctor let out an amused snort and pressed his nose into my hand briefly. His scales were warm to the touch. "Jesus," I muttered, dropping my hand to pat absently at my jacket pockets.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked curiously, tipping his head to the side.

"I need a smoke. This is too much for me." I stopped searching when I remembered that the police had confiscated my cigarettes back at the station. And my keys. And my wallet. "Damn it," I sighed. "Never mind."

"Looking for these?" There was a sudden jangle and the aforementioned objects dropped into my lap. I looked up at the Doctor, blinking in surprise.

"How-"

"I picked them up when I went to sort out that mess at the police station." He nodded down at me. "You have been exonerated, by the way."

"What did you do?" I eyed him, but he just gave me the Dragon equivalent of a beatific smile. I decided not to ask too many questions. "Are Trix and Tobin okay?"

"Yes." The Doctor snatched away the pack of cigarettes with a surprisingly delicate movement just as I was about to pull one out.

"Oh, come on!" I complained loudly, glaring at him. The Doctor glowered back. My chances of winning a fight against a giant magical lizard were exactly zero, so I crossed my arms and pouted instead. "Thanks a lot," I muttered sulkily. The Doctor snorted again and nudged me with his head. "What?"

"Stand up," he ordered. I groaned complainingly but got to my feet anyway. I instantly regretted it when the Doctor grabbed the back of my jacket with his teeth, lifting me clear off the ground. I stifled a yelp as he twisted his neck around and dropped me onto his back.

"Wh-what was that for?" I gasped, still lightheaded from being flung through the air.

"I want to show you something," the Doctor rumbled in response, setting off through the cathedral. I almost fell off his back and grabbed at his mane, eliciting a low growl from the Doctor when I pulled too hard.

"S-sorry," I stammered nervously. The Doctor grunted and shook himself, making me yelp and hold on tighter. I could've sworn I heard him chuckle as he padded through the cathedral. The place was huge, every room as gorgeous as the one I'd first seen. I stared in awe-struck wonder, trying to take in as much as I could. "Is this place even real?"

"It exists on a plane adjacent to Earth, similar to the NeverNever. It is my home." The Doctor said by way of explanation. "Ah. Here we are."

The room we'd stopped in was massive, stretching so far into the distance that I couldn't see the far wall. It was filled with all sorts of objects, from paintings to rows of books to, bizarrely, what looked like a dinosaur skeleton, the bones scattered on the floor. "Your treasure hoard?" I hazard a guess.

"Quite." The Doctor crouched down, signaling for me to get off. I slid to the floor with only mild difficulty, although my shirt did catch on a scale and tear. The Doctor started to walk through the room, deftly weaving around shelves and hopping over piles of precious stones. I had to practically run to keep pace with him.

"Aren't-aren't Dragons supposed to be super jealous and protective of their stuff?" I panted when I caught up.

"Typically." The Doctor flicked his tail. "I enjoy showing it to others. I enjoy humans as well. Very few of my kin hold that sentiment." He flopped down into a particularly expansive field of pillows suddenly and stretched, looking for all the world like an oversized cat. I couldn't help but grin and he flicked me with his tail, the feathery plume tickling my face. "Don't laugh," the Doctor said mildly, pushing me forward with his tail.

"Sorry," I said as I stumbled forward. "Um. Is this…is this your true form, then?"

"Of course not." The Doctor snorted. "Were you to see my true face, it would drive you mad."

"Oh. Well. That's nice to know." I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked up at the Doctor. "Um. If it's not too much of a bother, could you…maybe make yourself smaller? Sorry."

"Certainly." The Doctor dipped his head, form blurring and scales blurring bright, until he was roughly the size of a large horse. "Is this better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." I gave him a nervous smile. "So. Um." I stopped, not sure what to say. There was an awkward silence.

"Are you still mad at me?" The Doctor asked quietly, his startlingly human eyes sad. I bit my lip, considering, before finally shaking my head.

"No, guess not. I just- if we're gonna be working together, we gotta be honest with each other from now on, okay?"

"Agreed." The Doctor leaned forward, rubbing his head against my face in what seemed surprisingly close to a nuzzle. I blinked, feeling myself blush for reasons I didn't quite understand.

"Right. Okay." I cleared my throat, aiming desperately for detached professionalism. "We have a lot to talk about."

"So we do." The Doctor flickered again, reappearing in his familiar human form. He looked like he was about to speak again when he suddenly gasped, clutching at his chest and doubling over.

"Doctor! Are you all right?" I moved over to him, alarmed. He shook his head, glancing up at me with anguish in his eyes.

"No," the Doctor gasped out. "Samantha is dead."


End file.
